Crosseyed and Painless
Thursday, March 10, 2005
March 10, 2005
Quick posting: Tuesday (March 8) swam for about an hour at Fairland Pool, including a stretch of 1,200 nonstop. Feeling pretty good about my swimming, especially since I'm only getting about one session in a week. I definitely need to work on my reach and front quadrant technique, but it's getting there. It felt really good to take a day off from cycling/running, as my legs were feeling beat up. My hip did something odd while I was swimming, but that seems to have resolved itself. Stretched for about 10 minutes afterward.
Wednesday (March 9) did 45 minutes indoor on the rollers. I had planned to commute to work on bike, but there seems to be an issue with the valve hole on the back wheel of my commute bike, because I caused a flat when removing the pump head after pumping it up. Last week, there was a slow leak that developed in the same spot. I'm going to have to look that over. Anyway, 4 minutes on rollers--15 minute warm up, 20 minutes of an interval ladder at time trial intensity, 10 minutes to cooldown.
Nothing today. I have a black tie dinner to attend tonight.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
March 8, 2005
Finished up last night with a ride home from work. For the day, 1:02 of riding round trip, with 15 mintues of stretching in the a.m. and another 30 minutes in the p.m., along with an additional 10 minutes of core work and triceps strengthening, for a total on the day of
It was unseasonably warm--60s--and there was a nice southwesterly breeze that blew me all the way home. With the leftover fatigue from Sunday, it was nice to have a push home. And since it was one of the first truly warm days of the year, that meant we had an abnormally high number of people on the bike path with abnormally depleted senses for safety. I had to skid to a stop in front of a toddler that darted into my path even after I had shouted a warning to his guardian that I was passing. Parents, please please please keep control of your children on bike paths. Just as predictability keeps everyone safe on the highways, predictability keeps us all safe on multi-use paths. Leave the running in circles to your background or playgrounds. It's as much for your children's safety as it is for mine.
Tonight, I think I'll swim.
Monday, March 07, 2005
March 7, 2005
Yesterday, 80 miles, five and a half hours, on the DeRosa with Josh from his house in Kensington out to the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, passing through Potomac, Poolesville, Dickerson, Comus, Barnesville (I think), Potomac, and then returning via MacArthur Boulevard, the Capital Crescent Trail, Bethesda, and Beach Drive. Steady headwind on the way back home. I must have spaced out and forgotten to keep drinking my weak potion of Perpetuem, so I had a bit of a bonk--at the worst possible time, trying to drive home in the headwind. In addition, at a brief stop in Dickerson, when I should have refilled a bottle of Perpetuem, I neglected to. Hence, I saw a lot of Josh's back wheel. Some Hammergel set me straight, but then I had stomach bloating issues. The nutritional battle goes on. The difference between 60 miles, my longest ride so far this year, and 80 miles seems so small, and yet between the two seems to be the divide between training ride and long ride. Need more evidence? Pretty buttsore this morning too. The Brooks Team Pro on my Gitane fixed gear bike felt really hard this morning when I rode to work.
This morning--commuted to work on the fixed gear. Feeling slow and creaky today. More later.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Hello ... can you hear me in the back?
Hi, and thanks for stopping by. This is my weblog dedicated to endurance training as I prepare for various running, cycling, and combined events. I initially will use this as a means of tracking my training--like any athlete interested in continuous improvement--but as I grow a little more proficient with blogging I hope to add links to sites I find helpful, products and services I use, and if I'm really lucky, maybe I'll even add a feature or two. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.
